MUMBAI: At least 151 tourists from Maharashtra have been stranded in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand after landslides and flash floods cut off access to the remote Dharali region. While 120 of them have been located and are safe at an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp, 31 remain uncontactable – including 12 from Mumbai’s suburban areas.
The missing tourists include people from Mumbai, Thane, Solapur, Nashik, Malegaon, Titwala, and Ahilyanagar.
Search and rescue operations are underway in the affected region, which continues to reel under poor weather and communication blackouts.
Maharashtra chief secretary Rajesh Kumar spoke with his Uttarakhand counterpart Anand Bardhan on Friday, urging that the search and evacuation efforts be intensified. The Uttarakhand administration informed Kumar that heavy cloud cover and damaged mobile networks had made it difficult to reach some of the tourists, many of whom might also be facing phone battery issues.
In a positive development, satellite phones have been activated in the region to aid communication. Search teams, along with Uttarakhand’s disaster management officials, are coordinating with the Department of Telecommunications to trace the last known locations of the missing individuals and prepare for an airlift operation if needed.
Maharashtra’s disaster management minister Girish Mahajan has reached Dehradun to personally oversee the relief efforts and assist stranded tourists. The state disaster control room in Mumbai is coordinating closely with its counterparts in Uttarakhand, the National Emergency Response Centre, and district authorities in Uttarkashi to track tourists and support their families.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is monitoring the situation and has directed officials to arrange special flights or trains to bring back the tourists safely once the weather clears and access improves.
On Friday, evacuation efforts began from Harsil helipad to Gangotri using a mix of helicopters, buses, and on-foot assistance where roads were impassable.